What is the smoke setting on Pit Boss for?

You just got your new Pit Boss grill and you’re looking forward to smoking your first rack of ribs. But how do you use the smoke setting on Pit Boss? When I first got my pellet grill, I had to learn how to smoke food, because my old gas grill didn’t have that option. Here’s everything I’ve learned.

How Do You Use The Smoke Setting On Pit Boss?

Set the Pit Boss grill to the smoke setting, the auger will dispense pellets into the firepot, to create smoke, without getting the temperature above 225°F.

The Pit Boss pellet grill makes it easy for average people to smoke food from the comfort of their own backyard. In this article, we’ll discuss how to use the smoke setting? Can you cook in the smoke setting? The differences between the smoke, and so much more.

If you’re a complete beginner at owning a pellet grill, this post explains how a Pit Boss pellet grill works.

What Does The Smoke Setting Do On A Pit Boss?

The smoke setting infuses your food with more smoke flavor. This setting is designed for low and slow cooks and works best when you’re using the right type of flavored pellets.

Pit Boss has a wide range of different flavored hardwood pellets. This makes it test and experience different flavors that work best with different foods.

What Is The Smoke Setting On A Pit Boss Pellet Grill?

The “smoke” setting is the “s” or “smoke” on the control board. In this setting, the grill fluctuates between 180°-225°F / 65°-107°C.

It’s important to keep the temperature from between those ranges. If the grill burns too low, the food stays in the danger zone for too long. During the danger zone, bacteria can multiply, which can cause the food to spoil.

On the other hand, if the grill gets hotter than 225° Fahrenheit, the grill is no longer infusing the food with smoke.

So how do you control the temperature? This is where the Pit Boss P-setting comes into play. This setting is useful for the smoking function.

When the grill is in smoke mode, the auger is running in manual mode. The P-setting controls how many pellets are fed into the auger. Check out this article on what is P-Setting to help you understand how to use it.

Difference Between Smoke On Smoke Setting

When you first start the Pit Boss, the smoke will be thick, heavy, and white. If you stand too close, it will burn your eyes and throat. This happens regardless of whether it’s in the smoke setting or not.

In the first five minutes during startup, the auger is feeding the pellets into the firepot, where they are smoldered until they catch fire.

Once the grill is preheated and in the smoke setting, it will produce a thin blue smoke, that can be challenging to see. This smoke is what gives your food a great taste.

It doesn’t mean that you won’t see some smoke during the cooking process. The smoke will become thicker, whenever the auger feeds more pellets into the firepot.

That said, you shouldn’t see the same thick, hard to breathe smoke during the cooking process. If you do, chances are there is something wrong with the grill and you may need to shut it down to make sure it’s functioning properly.

How Much Smoke Should I Get During In The Smoke Setting?

At startup, the fire rod will heat up and smolder the pellets, until they catch fire in the firepot. This will produce quite a bit of smoke, enough to make it look like your backyard is on fire.

However, once the grill warms up, the smoke will dissipate and will produce just enough smoke to flavor your food. At times it can seem like you’re grill isn’t producing enough, however, it likely is.

The amount of smoke the Pit Boss produces during the “smoke” setting will vary depending on the quality of meat, pellets, and outside temperature. If you feel like your grill isn’t producing enough, then here’s what you can do about it.

Can You Cook On The Smoke Setting?

Yes, as long as the grill stays above the 200°F and below 225°F, you can cook in the smoke setting. That said, it will take a lot longer for the food to be cooked.

As mentioned above, it’s essential to ensure the grill stays above 180°F, to stay out of the danger zone.

Not only that but if your grill stays at 180°F, the food’s internal temperature will never reach the doneness stage. Poultry needs to reach an internal temperature between 165-175°F (dark vs white).

Other cuts of meat like brisket, turkey, ribs, and etc that need to be cooked to 180°F or higher.

Does The Pit Boss Smoke On Settings Other Than Smoke?

Some people believe that the only way to get the smoke flavor is to put the grill on the “smoke setting.” That’s not necessarily true.

Most food that is cooked on the Pit Boss will have a hint of smoke flavor, even if you didn’t cook it on the “smoke” setting. The difference is, in the actual setting, the food will be infused with smoke, meaning it will have a more smoky flavor.

How Do You Smoke on a Pit Boss?

Using the smoke setting on the pellet grill is extremely simple. Just follow these steps to start using it.

• Check the pellets in the hopper (change them out if you choose)
• Plug the grill into the electrical outlet
• Open the lid
• Power on the grill
• Close the lid when the grill starts to roar
• Turn the grill to “smoke” or “S” setting
• Let the grill reach the desired temperature before putting the food on the grates. (it’ll take about 5 minutes to preheat)

That’s it, you can smoke any foods you like. That said, some such as cheese, jerky, and etc, will work best for smoking.

Final Word

The smoke setting makes it easy to cook smoke-flavored food from the comfort of your backyard. Hopefully, this guide helped you understand the Pit Boss smoke setting.

You don’t have to use the smoke setting on all your foods. If you’ve never used the “smoke setting” on your grill, it’s time to give it a shot.

Eventually, you’ll become the envy of the neighborhood, especially, when people taste how amazing your smoked food tastes!

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